Necessarily Black
by kellie-rose
Summary: Nessa thought she was an ordinary, albeit mischievous, orphan until she discovered a letter addressed to her with the wrong last name. Might turn A/U. T-rating for now.
1. Chapter 1

**Necessarily Black**

**Chapter One: Secrets and Lies**

_"She was goin' somewhere far away."_

Nessa scurried down the halls as quickly and quietly as she could. Somewhere in the distance, a loud bell chimed the hour. Twelve strokes—midnight. _Crap_, she thought as she quickened her pace, ignoring the blistering pain in her calves. She had to do this, had to make sure it was true.

The dean's office was large, with plush midnight blue carpet and a great mahogany desk rising up in the center, the hig-backed, winged leather chair sitting grandly behind it. There was a filing cabinet right behind the desk, its beige paint peeling in some parts. Nessaa zeroed in on it, trying not to disturb anything as she leafed through the files. Her own file, Vanessa Morganna Blimsbee, was easy to find and full of disiplinary referals.

She smiled at some of them, like the one she got for single handedly covering every surface with shaving cream in the mess hall, or the one that she got for setting goats loose through the halls, painting the numbers 1,2, and 4 on them. She had gotten the idea from an American television show. It had been a good laugh for everyone when the administration was frantically searching for number three.

Some of the referrals were absolute rubbish! Like the one where she had been written up for burning a girl when she was a good five feet away from her. Or where all the glass shattered in the mess hall when she was seven. She skimmed passed these with a frown until she found what she was looking for.

It was a thick envelope made of fine parchment. The spidery writing on the front was emblazoned in emerald. It was addressed to Nessa Black, with the last name Blimsbee in parentheses. She opened it hastily, not caring anymore about getting caught. She was only twelve, after all. It wasn't like they could kick her out for her behavior, eveen though they threatened too quite often.

The letter was confusing. "_Dear Miss Black,_" it read, "_you have been accepted to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry._"

She thought back to Mandy Mackleson's taunting earlier that day.

"You know, you're such a witch!" the girl had cackled.

"Stop being so mean, Mandy!" Nessa huffed, stomping her foot. She was always being teased for being different.

"I'm not," the girl replied innocently. "It's true. Mr. Hackberry has a letter from some school. It says that you're a witch."

Nessa looked back down at the letter in her hand, pushing her unruly black hair out of her face. _Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry_. Maybe there was some truth in Mandy's taunting. Maybe she was a freak, a witch. Pocketing the letter, she closed her file and replaced, leaving no trace of her having been there behind.

She was a witch. That explained a lot, but it also brought up a lot of questions. Were her parents magical? Was her father's last name Black? Why did Mr. Hackberry never tell her about the letter? Why wasn't she at this Hogwarts instead of at this stupid orphanage that didn't want her? Was that why her mother had given her up? She was going to confront Mr. Hackberry about this first thing in the morning, she decided, feeling hollow as she made her way back to the dormitories.

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The next morning was chaotic as everyone rushed to get ready for the school year that was starting in a weeek. The Brunson Preparitory School and Orphanage took in students of rich parents who wanted to get rid of their kids for a while to pay for its orphans. Nessa wandered down the hall to the dean's office, the letter she had discovered the night before in her hand, determination mixed with sleep on her face. She didn't care how busy he was, he was going to explain why she wasn't learning how to be a witch.

"Miss Blimsbee, what can I do you for?" the man asked around his usual cigar. The large circular bald spot on his head gleamed in the harsh overhead light.

"We need to talk," she said, using a tone she had heard adults use in films. It was threatening and sharp. She threw the letter on the desk and spalyed her hands palm down on the smooth wooden surface, leaning forwards and trying to look imposing. Her grey eyes were narrowed to slits.

"Make it quick," the man said, picking up the letter. "What is this?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that," She said, curling her fingers up, digging her nails into the desk. "I found it in my file lat night."

Mr. Hackberry's face turned red and he pulled the cigar out of his mouth. "What were you doing in your file? Miss Bimsbee, you are aware of the consequences for stealing. I-"

"I don't see how it is stollen if it belongs to me!" She screamed, standing up straight. "Why did you never show this to me, opr at least tell me about it?"

"Because," he said, also standing up, "if any of the parents found out about us having a bloody witch in the school, they would take their children out! Then how would we get funding?"

Nessa was quiet a second, her tiny nostrils flaring as she tried to think past her anger., The dean was a man who only thought about business. The orphans never saw any of the funds as all the money was spent on the school. After a long second, she quietly said, "I want to go."

"No," Mr. Hackburry said with a note of finality.

But Nessa wasn't going to give up. "Yes," she countered, making to snatch the letter from him. "It's not your choice is it?"

"That's besides the point. You are not going so long as you live here, understand?"

"Then I wont live here." She said, a hint of desperation in her voice. "I will find my mother and I will go to school at Hogwarts. _Give me my letter_."

He looked afraid of her for a moment, but he soon recovered and was handing the thick parchment to her. "Your mother made it quite clear that she didn't want you to come looking for her."

"Too bad," she muttered, turning on her heel. "I would say it was nice knowing you, but it wasn't."

"Wait- Vanessa!" He called after her as she slammed the door. The glass window shattered from the force, but she didn't care as she headed back to her room. She was going to leave the damned orphanage, find her mother, and then find a way to Hogwarts.

However badly she wanted to leave, she found that she couldn't. Mr. Hackberry was determined to keep her from leaving, putting the place on lockdown immediately after she left his office. Nessa moped angrily at the old man, wishing that he would just let go of her. She had been the first orphan to spend their entire life at the orphanage, and she probably would spend her _entire _life tere if he had his way. She hated him for it.

Around noon, there was knock at the door. Nessa, who had spent the entire day sitting on the edge of her bed with her chin resting on her fists, got up grumpily to open the door, only to find an older orphan, a cute boy named Travis, holding a sheaf of paper in his hand.

"This is for you," he said lamely, looking staight at the floor.

"Who's it from?" Nessa asked, her voice shaking. If she was being honest with herself, she was totally in love with him. Had been since he had shown up five years prior.

"Hackberry," Travis mumbled to the floor. "You have an appointment later today."

"Great," Nessa mumbled, yanking the slip of paper from his hand. She slammed the door on his face, ignoring the desire to invite him inside. The paper was a salmon pink color with cramped writing. She had an appointment for eight in the morning the next day. Grumbling to herself, she crumbled up the paper and threw across the room.

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Eight in the morning came too fast for Nessa. Unfortunately for her, she slept through her alarm, waking up to find that she had less than three minutes to get dressed nd get to the appointment. She was fifteen minutes late, having decided that there was no sense in rushing if she was going to be late regardless.

"Miss Blimsbee," Hackberry scolded whe she walked into the office, "you are late, as usual."

Nessa shrugged, taking in the enormous man sstanding in front of Hackberry's desk.

"Who're you?" She asked, quite rudely.

"This," Hackberry said in an exasperated voice, "is Mr. Hagrid. He is from Hogwarts."

The man held out his hand out, with was the size of a dust pan, and said, "Just Hagrid will do just fine." He had a thick accent that Nessa found very entertaining.

"So you changed your mind?" She said pointedly to Hackberry. "I wont be disgracing your crooked business by going to school there?"

"Now, Vanessa, I understand that you are upset with me-"

"Upset?" She repeatedincredulously. "I don't think tht is quite strong enough a word." She turned back to Hagrid, plastering a fake grin on her face. "Are we leaving now?"

"Well, first yeh have to go shopping for yer supplies." He chuckled. "Now, yeh understand that you will be a year behind the other students yer age, correct?"

Nessa turned to Hackberry with an evil glare; it was one that could melt the skin off of his face. "No," she said tersely, "I had no idea."

"Well," Hagrid said, sensing how angry she was, "yeh were _supposed_ to start last year, but given yer situation yeh'll be startin' this year."

"Alright!" Nessa chimed brightly. She didn't care as long as she could get out of that horrible orphanage.

The rest of the appointment was a blurr. Nessa knew that she should've been paying attention, but couldn't bring herself to do it. All she could think was that she was finally, for the first time in her life, going to be leaving.

* * *

**A/N: So, this is just a little idea that I had. Actually, I was originally trying to write a character sketch for one of my nanowrimo characters, and ended up with this. I'm really interested to see where it goes. I have about as much of a clue as you, dear readers, do. The quote is from "Was it a lie" by Sleater-kinney.**

**Review?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out! I've just been busy with nanowrimo, and then editing my other novel. That, and I haven't been inspired. So here it is, the second installment of the Necessarily Black adventure!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or the song lyrics, which are from A Very Potter Musical. That is owned by the geniuses of Star Kid Productions. Everyone knows who owns Harry Potter.**

* * *

**Necessarily Black**

**Chapter Two: Looking Through the Glass**

_"Gotta get back to Hogwarts,  
Gotta get back to school,  
Gotta get myself to Hogwarts,  
Where everything is magicooool."_

This was it. This was what had kept her awake every night for the past week. She was finally doing it. Look, there, she was officially boarded on the Hogwarts Express! Excited jitters pulsed through her frail body as she looked around at all the other witches and wizards. She couldn't believe this was real. For an extra precaution, Nessa pinched herself. Nope, this was not a dream. It was really real, just like the pain that now pulsated around the epicenter of her pinch. Damn, she could pinch hard!

Rubbing her arm, she wandered down the train, looking for either an empty compartment, or one whose inhabitants looked inviting. Sadly, she found neither until she came to the end of the train, where there was only one person in the compartment. She looked older than Nessa, but there was a certain sadness in her watery blue eyes that made Nessa open the door and sit down across from her, setting her trunk down on the seat next to her.

"Hi there," Nessa said cheerily. She wanted to start off at her new school with as many friends as possible. "I'm Nessa."

The girl grumbled, running a hand through her shiny blonde hair. "Lisa."

"What year are you in?" Nessa asked, unable to keep the excitement from her voice.

"Fourth." She seemed sassy and like she didn't want Nessa there.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" She wanted to be absolutely sure she was intruding.

"Whatever," the girl grumbled rudely, her hair falling in her face like a curtain, "just don't expect me to talk to you."

With a sigh, and a roll of her eyes, Nessa got up. "I can take hint," she muttered, pulling her trunk into the corridor and meandered up and down the halls until she found a slightly-less menacing-looking compartment than the others had been. It was full of first years, chattering excitedly about the year that was to come.

"Do you lot mind if I join you?" Nessa asked cheerily after pulling the door open with some difficulty.

"Course not," one of the boys said, getting up to give her a hand with her trunk. He was cute, with sharp features and mocha skin. "I'm Corwin Robins, this is Collin Towler, and the rest I don't remember their names. Sorry," he said, looking around at the faces around him sheepishly.

"I'm Nessa Bimsbee," she said cordially, taking a seat next to Corwin.

"What house do you hope to be sorted into?" He asked her, his face lit up.

"I don't know much about the houses," Nessa admitted sheepishly.

"Ah, muggle-born, eh?" He said with a knowing look on his face.

In all honesty, she could answer that question. She had no idea what her parents were. Her mother was probably a muggle, having sent her to a muggle orphanage, but what about her father.

"I don't know," she said in a small voice, not really wanting to get into the nitty-gritty about her family life, or lack here of. In response to his questioning look, with one eyebrow raised, she mumbled, "Orphan."

Corwin gave her a small, sympathetic smile before changing the subject back to houses. "I hope to be in Gryffindor, where the brave of heart reside!"

She was glad that he didn't linger on the subject. "What are the other houses like?"

Crinkling his nose, the boy thought a moment before responding. "Well," he said slowly, "there is Ravenclaw, which is where all the brainiacs go. And then Hufflepuff, which is where the loyal, hardworking ones get sorted into. And then Slytherin. You don't want to go to Slytherin."

"Why not?" Nessa asked, tilting her head to the side.

Corwin looked around before whispering in her ear, "They're all evil, every last on of them."

She shivered at his eerie tone, a sense of foreboding over coming her. "Well, I certainly won't be in there," she sniffed, trying to shake that feeling.

"Where do you think you'll end up, then?"

She thought about it, then shrugged. "Dunno. I am brave, but I'm also loyal. I don't see myself getting put with a bunch of smarties, though. Maybe Gryffindor."

They spent the remainder of the train ride discussing what to expect from Hogwarts. She listened intently as Corwin told her about all the suits of armor and the moving portraits, about the Forbidden Forest and Quidditch. He told her how he hoped to try out when he could. That interested her the most, Quidditch. She loved the idea of a sport on brooms. And then they changed into their robes about an hour before the train was to arrive at Hogwarts. She felt silly in the black robes and plain tie. She wanted her tie to be filled with colors, red and gold to be more specific.

"Look, there it is!" Some one exclaimed, jumping up and pointing to the window. Everyone, including Nessa, crowded the window. There it was indeed, looming on the horizon like a magnificent beast, twinkling in the twilight sky. A collective "oh" rang through the small cluster of first years and Nessa felt a lump in the back of her throat. _Oh, not now!_ she thought, pushing back her tears of joy. This truly was the happiest moment of her life.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you people that have alerted and favorited! It made my night and inspired me to write more!**

**Disclaimer: Is this really necessary? I don't own anything you recognize.**

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It was really quite scary standing in front of the hundred of studentsin the Great Hall. In fact, Nessa found it so nerve-wrecking that she couldn't find it in herself to be amazed at the ceiling, which depicted the swirling silver clouds in the dark, navy sky. Nor could she gasp at the floating candles like the other first years. No, instead, all she could think about was what would happen if she tripped. With the rest of the group, she followed Professor McGonagall up to a little stool. On top of the stool was a moldy old hat. It was so ancient and tattered that she allowed herself to take a moment from worrying to wrinkle her nose at it. And then a tear at the seam started moving, a voice coming from it, and she realized it could talk. Or, rather in this case, sing. She didn't pay much attention to the song, but all too soon the teacher unrolled a scroll and began calling out names.

"Black, Vanessa!" The old, stern woman called out. Nessa remembered the name written on her Hogwarts letter and looked around to see if there was another Vanessa in the group. No one moved forwards to claim the name, so she tentatively stepped up to the teacher, who was looking down at her impatiently. "Well, come on. Don't be shy!"

With a gulp, the twelve year old sat down on the tiny stool and the professor placed the hat on top of her head. She didn't know what she was expecting, really, but when it started talking to her, she jumped, making half of the room chuckle softly.

_Another one of you! _the hat spoke to her.

"Of me what?" She asked, fearful.

_Another Black_, it replied. She then realized that it was speaking to her in her head.

She could feel the excitement bubbling through her as what it had said sunk in. "Another Black?

_Ah, yes, and I know just where to put you._

"Well, as long as it's not Slytherin."

_But you would be good in there, with all the ambition you possess. But no, you're right. Well then, it better be..._

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted across the room.

Nessa stood up, carefully removing the hat, and looked around. She supposed that she was supposed to go to the table where everyone was cheering. Waving to Corwin, who was giving her a thumbs up, she skipped over to the table, where everyone made room for her.

The rest of the sorting moved very quickly, with Corwin and Colin getting put in Gryffindor, along with a Ginny Weasley and a few other's whose names she didn't catch. And then an old man, who looked like he could've been around when the hat was in mint condition, stood up and began speaking.

"That's him, that's Professor Dumbledore!" Corwin whispered excitedly in her ear.

"Good evening," Dumbledore's voice boomed over to them. "And welcome to another exciting year at Hogwarts!" Several cheers erupted in resonse. "I have been asked to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to students and that the list of banned items is hanging up in Filche's office if anyone is interested enough to read it. But, before any other announcements, I must insist that we tuck in!" He clapped twice and then enormous plates of food filled the table. Nessa, who had lived at the Orphanage her entire life where portions were made small for the orphans and large for the students, felt her stomach growl appreciatively.

She piled her plate high with food and took Dumbledore's advice in tucking in. She scooped the food in so fast that several people stopped eating just to watch her eat with morbid fascination.

"Slow down, Nessie!" Corwin laughed, having already coined her new nickname on the train earlier that evening.

"We never get food like this at the orphanage," she said around a mouthful of turkey. He laughed again as she scooped mashed potatoes onto a slice of turkey, rolled it up, and shoved it in her mouth. This place was already her favorite place in the world.

* * *

"So, Nessie," Corwin said, several hours later in the common room. "I was thinking about the sorting and something struck me as odd."

"What do you mean?" She asked, thumbing through her used charms book.

"Well, when you intorduced yourself on the train, you said your last name was Bimsbee, right?" He asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Yeah, and?"

"And when we were being sorted, McGonagall called you Vanessa Black."

"What's you're point?" Nessa asked, looking up from the book to glare at him.

He turned white and begasn sputtering about. "Well, I justt. it was just odd that.. Why'd she call you that?"

Sighing, her features softened and she scooted closer to her new friend. "I don't know why that's what she called me by. It was the name on my letter, too. Did I tell you that I got my letter a year late?"

Corwin shook his head, his eyes wide. "Why? How did that happen?"

Nessa shrugged, the rage she felt when she learned that returning. Though it was just a ghost of what she had felt, her hands began to shake. "The head at the orphanage didn't want me to come here. He said it was bad publicity for the school he ran."

"What a tosser." Corwin sighed, leaning in closer. "So, why do you think that was the name on your letter?"

Again, she shrugged, truly baffled. "Maybe it's my dad's last name. Bimsbee is my mum's maiden name. I never knew anything about my dad, though. My mum s the one who shipped me off to the orphanage before I could walk."

"That's bloody mean."

"Tell me about it." She yawned. Corwin took the book from her lap and shut it. "What're you doing?"

"You're tired," he said matter of factly. "Tomorrow we have classes. You need to be alert. Come on, I reckon it's bed time."

"Bedways is bestways." Nessa said, quoting a book she had "borrowed" from an older kid at the orphanage. "But I'm not really that tired," she argued, yawning again.

Corwin laughed, helping her to her feet. "Sure you aren't."

* * *

Nessa found it very hard to sleep that night, but found it even harder to wake up the next morning. She had never slept in a bed so comfortable before! She dressed quickly when she was finally able to pull herself from bed, finding that she had twenty minutes to run down to the Great Hall, get breakfast, get her schedule, and get to class. But when she crawled out of the portrait hole, she found Corwin waiting for her with a piece of toast smothered with jam and a slip of parchment paper.

"I got your schedule for you," he said, handing her the food first. "We have Potions first, down in the dungeons. I already asked an older student for very specific directions. Come on."

She watched him as he turned on his heels and started towards a set of stairs. When he noticed that she wasn't following him, he stopped and motioned for her to. Nessa did so, stuffing a piece of toast in her mouth.

"'Ank 'oo," she said, a mouthful of bread and raspberry jam obscuring her words.

"No problem, really," Corwin smiled, leading her through the castle to the dank, dark dungeons where a group of green-tied Slytherins were already waiting. Her fellow Gryffindors were standing on the other side of the hall, so she and Corwin went to join them.

The red head, Ginny, gave her an odd look, clutching a black leather book tightly to her chest. Nessa was about to say something to her, when the door to the potions classroom opened and a bat-like man stalked out, motioning for them to take their seats. They filed in quietly, Nessa licking the corners of her mouth for the toast crumbs, and took their seats in the middle of the room.

"There will be no silly wand waving, or any other such frivolities in my classroom." The teacher, Professor Snape, said in a monotone voice, stalking into the room like a shadow... or a bat. He went on to describe what the class was going to be like, but Nessa found it very hard to concentrate. It was just so much more entertaining to picture him hanging upside down from some sort of cave. Or to picture him running around the room, flapping his arms like wings. At this mental image she let a a small giggle, interrupting his speech about various potions and what they could do.

"Is there something funny, Miss Bimsbee?" He asked, drawing out each word with poisonous distaste. Before she could respond he descended upon her desk, placing both pale hands on her desk.

"Um..." she mumbled, racking her brain for an appropriate excuse. Sadly, she found none, thus deciding to go with the truth. "I'm sorry, it's just... I was trying to stay awake by picturing you as a bat."

Professor Snape snarled angrily at her while a roar of "oo's" erupted through the class. Next to her, Corwin was restraining a choked chuckle.

"Ten points will be taken from Gryffindor for Miss Bimsbee's rudeness. And you have detention this friday night at six. Don't be late." He droned, turning his back to her and moving to the front of the room where he then instructed them to get to work on the boil-cure potion.

Fuming, Nessa flipped her textbook open to the correct page and stared sown at the list of ingredients. There, she found that she needed dried nettles, crushed snake fangs, stewed horned slugs, and porcupine quills. "Does it matter what kind of snake it is?" She asked Corwin, who was arranging his ingredients into neat little piles.

"Just use mine," he said, scooting closer.

Shrugging, she got to work on her potion, giggling whenever someone did something wrong (like when Corwin's cauldron melted and the resulting green liquid burned through his shoes). She found, however, that she had a knack for potion making. She was the first to finish, bottling the brew and taking it up to Snape's desk, and he had nothing bad to say after observing it.

It was none too soon when the bell finally rang, releasing them from dank room.

"What's next?" Nessa asked as she walked with Corwin up the stairs.

He checked their schedules and said, "Flying lessons. That should be fun, eh?"

She nodded enthusiastically, leading the way out to the pitch.

* * *

At the end of the day, Nessa had decided that she, indeed, did not like flying. It could've been the broken arm that helped her decide this, or the way that she had absolutely no control over the broom. Regardless, she simply hated flying. She was sitting in the Hospital wing, resting after having her arm healed in less than five minutes. Corwin was sitting at the foot of her bed, getting a head start on his homework.

"I don't know why you're doing that now," she said, taking his sheaf of parchment from him with her good arm.

"Because, I'd rather get it out of the way and have more time to work on my game." He said, snatching the parchment back from her.

She snorted, unable to hold onto the now rolled up slip of paper much longer. "Your game?" Nessa snorted again, leaning back on her fluffy pillows. When they had gone to their flying lessons, she was sure that he was going to amaze her. Unfortunately, he was no better than the rest of them, only being able to get the broom to go more than two feet into the air. "What game?"

Grumbling, Corwin smoothed out his parchment and pretended to ignore her as she continued to insult him. He ignored her for the rest of the night after she was released, leaving her alone at dinner and sticking to his books in the common room. That was, until she had had enough of it.

"Look," she said after trying to apologize to him for the fifth time, "I'm sorry."

He turned away from her, holding the transfiguration book up in his face.

With an exasperated sigh, she snatched the book out of his hands and forced him to look at her. "Accept my apology," she demanded fiercely.

"Fine," Corwin pouted, snatching his book back. "I accept your apology. Now will you let me get back to what I was doing before I find another reason to be upset with you?"

Nessa nodded, an unfamiliar feeling knotting up her throat. She'd never had very many friends back at the orphanage, so loosing her first real friend so quickly was painful. "I'm going to bed," she mumbled, crawling to her feet. "See you in the morning?"

He nodded, still pretending to be more engrossed in the textbook.

* * *

**Another note: I went back and changed a little part of the second chapter. It's just a name, but still that's changed. **


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